Chapter 645: Experiences of Six Lives

The Fire Infant manifested its power once more, dyeing Li Haoran’s body and head in a layer of flame; had it suddenly appeared in the night, it would have terrified many to tears.

Lu Yang pondered seriously on the utility of Li Haoran’s Nascent Soul.

"If the body were completely disassembled, there would be six parts capable of launching attacks. If manipulated properly, the enemy would face assaults from six different directions, making it nearly impossible to defend against."

"If only the head flies out while the remaining body forms a headless corpse to attack, its life-preserving efficacy would be peerless."

"Senior Brother Lu, that is far from my only means of preserving my life!" Hearing Lu Yang's analysis, Li Haoran burst into hearty laughter.

"Unite!"

His head connected with his neck without the slightest flaw, leaving utterly no trace that he had been in the form of a headless corpse just a moment prior.

"Come, Senior Brother Lu, attack me!"

Lu Yang did not stand on ceremony. Pressing two fingers together, he unleashed an invisible sword qi straight toward Li Haoran.

"Interesting. What if it is like this?"

Before long, Li Haoran’s head flew back, merging with his body and restoring it to its original state.

"Hiss, Senior Brother Lu, you strike with quite a ruthless hand."

"Wait a moment, it seems that indeed it could work..."

"My constitution is somewhat peculiar; I can borrow the Nascent Souls of others. Take this cultivation method and study it; it will allow you to lend your Nascent Soul to me."

"How about it?" Li Haoran reattached his right arm and turned around, his body unharmed and perfectly whole.

Meng Jingzhou suddenly struck upon an idea and leaned in close to Li Haoran.

Upon merging with his body, Li Haoran felt the painful sting of being wounded by the sword qi.

"Junior Brother Li, let us discuss something. I, your senior brother, have some insights regarding the cultivation of the Nascent Soul stage, and I need your cooperation."

He removed his head, gripped his hair, swung his arm in a full circle, and with a swift whoosh, hurled his head away.

Li Haoran’s body solidly endured the brunt of all the sword qi, while his head transformed into a streak of flowing light and fled far into the distance. Had the sword qi been a fatal strike, he would have been able to escape death in this very manner.

Immediately following this, a smile graced the corners of his mouth.

Li Haoran’s body swayed slightly, his right arm detaching as the invisible sword qi flew directly through the space between his torso and his right arm.

Lu Yang could not help but applaud. This Red Boy Nascent Soul was indeed useful, and its applications were diverse, limited only by the imagination.

Unlike Li Haoran, who used the casting of spells as his primary method of attack, he was a body cultivator. He held high demands for the continuity of his physical frame; breaking his body apart to strike an enemy would possess a power far inferior to assuming a boxing stance and throwing a couple of punches...

Yet it was not entirely impossible.

Meng Jingzhou looked at Li Haoran’s Fire Infant and fell into deep thought. His own Nascent Soul could transform into three heads and six arms; would Junior Brother Li’s Nascent Soul allow his own three heads and six arms to fly about everywhere?

Li Haoran’s expression shifted; with his reaction speed, it was indeed impossible to dodge in the face of so many sword qis.

"What insights?"

Lu Yang granted Li Haoran no time to react, severing more than ten sword qis in rapid succession. This was a rain of sword qi that Li Haoran could absolutely not evade by means of dismemberment!

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

Li Haoran wore a bizarre expression; it was his first time hearing that a Nascent Soul could be borrowed.

Could it be that the Meng family did not merely lend money, but could even lend out Nascent Souls?

"I shall study it."

Li Haoran quickly mastered the cultivation method Meng Jingzhou handed over. It was but a single thin sheet of paper, exceedingly simple, and his speed of learning was even faster than Mangu's.

The two sat cross-legged, triggering a resonance. The Fire Infant flew out from Li Haoran’s body and entered Meng Jingzhou’s dantian.

Meng Jingzhou felt the power of the Fire Infant; this was a power unique to the Three-Soul stage, truly extraordinary.

He gave a great shout, initiating the fusion of the Nascent Souls, and once more transformed into a divine being with four heads and eight arms.

Following this, Meng Jingzhou severed four of his arms and had the other four arms hold them, thus transforming into a divine being with four heads, four arms, and four weapons!

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"It succeeded!"

The corners of Li Haoran’s eyes twitched slightly at the sight; he felt that Senior Brother Meng did not resemble a cultivator of the righteous path, but looked more like a leader of the demonic path.

The Eldest Senior Sister, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke. Her voice was not loud, yet it possessed the power to quiet the entire venue: "Junior Brother Li, we have just returned from the Nine Nether Sect, where we heard them recount the origins of their sect. Do you possess any memories regarding this matter?"

Hearing that serious business was to be discussed, Meng Jingzhou hastily returned the Nascent Soul to Li Haoran.

Upon hearing of the Nine Nether Sect’s origins, Li Haoran blanked for a moment, then nodded sincerely: "I actually do, though it is not entirely complete."

"Qin Haoran once told Senior Yi Ren that he was the eighth reincarnation, and I am the ninth."

"The reason he could be certain he was the eighth generation was precisely because he possessed the memories of the previous seven lifetimes."

"However, I have not yet fully inherited Qin Haoran’s memories; the recollections regarding those earlier lifetimes are intermittent."

"There is no harm in speaking of it."

Li Haoran nodded, searching through the vast ocean of Qin Haoran’s memories for the relevant information.

Qin Haoran possessed nearly two thousand years of memory. Such a colossal volume of recollection was not something Li Haoran could easily bear; to avoid losing himself within that immense sea of memory, Li Haoran had requested their master to seal it away, undoing a portion of the seal only when the need arose.

"The memories of my first three lifetimes are considerably vague; I cannot recall clearly what transpired."

"When it came to eighty thousand years ago, which was the fourth lifetime, by a stroke of coincidence, 'I' awakened and obtained a portion of my past life's memories. Within those memories, he acquired knowledge regarding cultivation and embarked upon the path of immortality."

"As his cultivation level rose, other parts of the memories from the first three lifetimes surfaced, such as 'Nine Nether' and 'Samsara.' Mu Baiyi should have already told you all about this."

"Relying on those fragmented memories of his past life, the fourth generation established the Nine Nether Sect to explore the true meaning of reincarnation."

"Of course, there were no results, and the stronghold was even busted by two constables. He was a man of loyalty and righteousness, letting his subordinates flee first while he brought up the rear. In the end, he failed to escape and was captured, sentenced to life imprisonment."

"The fifth lifetime was reincarnated into the Buddhist Kingdom. Seeing through the red dust of the mortal world, he left home to become a monastic—specifically a nun. Later, she fell in love with the abbot of the neighboring temple. Both returned to secular life and were married under the witness of the Buddha."

"The sixth lifetime joined the Nine Nether Sect. Relying on the memories of his past life, he ascended to the position of Sect Master. Due to embezzling the sect's property and taking it as his own, while long defaulting on the monthly stipends, he was assassinated."

"The seventh lifetime was a woman who became a palace maid, spending her days engaging in conspiracies and intrigues within the inner palace." Speaking to this point, Li Haoran’s expression turned somewhat unsightly as he recalled unpleasant matters.

"The eighth lifetime you all know; it was that damnable Qin Haoran, who also possessed the highest cultivation. Desiring to cross the tribulation to ascend to the Tribulation Transmutation stage to hide from his creditors, he was struck dead by lightning."

"The ninth lifetime is me."

Several lifetimes of grand and surging waves.

After listening, the Eldest Senior Sister asked calmly: "The fourth lifetime was born eighty thousand years ago, and the eighth lifetime, Qin Haoran, reincarnated into you immediately after his death. This means that after the death of the fourth lifetime, he did not immediately reincarnate into the fifth; there were time intervals between them, is that correct?"

Li Haoran nodded: "Yes. The further along it goes, the shorter the interval between the past and present lifetimes becomes. By the time it reached my lifetime, there was no interval at all."

"According to this temporal pattern, you of the first three lifetimes were not a person of Great Xia, but rather of Great Yu or perhaps Great Qian, correct?"

"One could say so."

The Eldest Senior Sister added: "The reincarnation intervals grew shorter and shorter until now there is no interval at all. This might be a form of countdown, or perhaps a method of accumulation. This lifetime of yours might be the final one, or perhaps something will transpire in the tenth lifetime after your death."

"Indeed."

The Eldest Senior Sister thought for a moment, then turned her head to ask Jiang Lianyi: "I have no further questions on my end. Senior, do you have any questions?"

Jiang Lianyi nodded: "Could you detail the experiences of conspiring and intriguing within the inner palace?"

"...I cannot."

"In that case, I have no objections either."

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